Day 4 – Breakfast and Weight Watchers banking November 7, 2009

Today I weigh 222.0 lbs. I LOST 2 POUNDS! Just kidding. It’s water-weight. Back in my Weight Watcher days I’d run to the bathroom before weighing at the counter, so when I did finally weigh-in I’d usually lost at least a pound since I left home (I have a bladder the size of a blue whale). You know what I call that? Delusion.

I think what really messed me up with Weight Watchers was their “banking concept.” You could “bank” points from one day and use them another day. So I’d tell myself that I’d bank later. In other words, I would eat a whole pan pizza from Pizza Hut because I’d “bank some points later.” Of course the chances of that working out were roughly the same as the chances of me winning the Tour de France.

None of this was Weight Watchers’ fault, but it opened the door for me to be an idiot. That’s why I’ve decided that the simpler the rules, the better. The simple rule for me is this: no more calories than I’m allowed.

I have a confession. Last night I was tempted to fudge my numbers! I went to Taco Bell, as I said, but before I left the ranch (my apartment), I debated whether I should just go over my daily allowance or not. I though well, I can go under tomorrow… and then I realized that idea reminded me of something… BANKING FAILURE! So before I left the house, I decided what I would get. A good idea might be to only take the amount of money that will get you the food you’ve decided on. I think the key is to decide before you leave. That’s the only thing that kept me from a T-Bell binge. I must say, that was some of the best Taco Bell I’ve had in a while, and for once it didn’t bring shades of Montezuma’s revenge with it, probably because I ate less and ate slower. It felt like a victory. Those little victories are so important for a diet, because you’re essentially training yourself to do behave differently, so you have to reward yourself for the right things. The victories should be over your former bad judgment and not over your diet. That sounds nice written down, doesn’t it? Let’s hear it again.

Your little victories should be over your former bad judgment and not over your diet.

-Breakfast-

1/4 c. grits (an amount I learned to eyeball by using the same bowl when measuring it every day) –130